A compelling cast of characters take center stage in this installment of locally produced titles newly available on BARD.
Pancho Villa, “Black Jack” Pershing, radio personality Lynn Woolley, and larger-than-life Texas artist Daddy-O Wade share the spotlight with 20 blind and visually impaired professionals who offer perspective on overcoming obstacles and achieving success.
Add a dash of spy thrillers, “preacher tales,” plus stories of famous events in Texas History, and you have top-notch entertainment worthy of the Giant Dancing Frogs of Dallas!
Learn more about the Texas Talking Book Program’s exceptional Volunteer Recording Studio online: www.tsl.texas.gov/tbp/vrs.
ANGELINA BALLERINA by Katharine Holabird (DBC 26777)
More than anything else in the world, Angelina loved to dance. She danced all the time and she danced everywhere, and often she was so busy dancing that she forgot about the other things she was supposed to be doing. For grades K-3.
APPLES OF GOLD by Jo Petty (DBC 26789)
A collection of hundreds of inspirational sayings about love, joy, peace, suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.
BACK ON MURDER by J. Mark Bertrand (DBC 25483)
Roland March, a Houston detective with something to prove, gets a chance to redeem himself when he is transferred to a missing person case—the disappearance of the teenage daughter of a famous evangelist. Violence. 2010.
BOOK OF TEXAS DAYS by Ron Stone (DBC 26763)
A day-by-day account of famous events from Texas history with one or more stories for each day of the calendar year.
CAREER PERSPECTIVES: INTERVIEWS WITH BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED PROFESSIONALS (DBC 26435)
Here are the stories of how twenty different people, blind or visually impaired, decided on a professional career—often in the face of repeated discouragement—and achieved career success.
CULPA FUE DEL CABALLO by Keith Luger (DBC 26788)
La Culpa Fue del Caballo (It Was the Horse’s Fault) is an old-time western with poolhalls, sheriffs and even a Texas senator. Spanish language.
DADDY-O IGUANA HEADS AND TEXAS TALES by Bob Wade (DBC 24982)
Texas artist Bob “Daddy-O” Wade is known for his outlandish larger-than-life projects, such as a forty-foot iguana perched on the top of New York City’s Lone Star Cafe, and the Giant Dancing Frogs of Dallas. Here he tells stories of the people and places of his life, exposing the madness behind the methodology. Strong language.
DOUBLE JEOPARDY by William Bernhardt (DBC 24978)
Former Dallas cop Travis Byrne traded in his badge for a law degree. Appointed to defend the despicable thug Al Moroconi, Byrne’s reputation is on the line when Moroconi escapes court custody and vanishes into the Dallas underworld. On the trail of his errant client, Byrne finds himself caught between the mob and the FBI—and on the run for a murder he didn’t commit. Strong language.
EN BUSCA DE BERNABE by Graciela Limon (DBC 26271)
Since Luz Delcano’s son, Lucio, was taken from her, she is especially protective of Bernabe. Lucio becomes head of state security, the Salvadoran equivalent of a death squad, while Bernabe, destined for the priesthood, disappears after the assassination of the archbishop. Luz looks for Bernabe, who has joined the guerillas, but finds him too late to save him from his brother. Violence, strong language, and descriptions of sex. Spanish language.
Title in English: IN SEARCH OF BERNABE.
HORSE UNDER WATER by Len Deighton (DBC 26769)
Skin diving, drug trafficking, and blackmail all figure into this novel, in which the dead hand of a long-defeated Hitler-Germany reaches out to Portugal, London, and Marrakesh, threatening to bring about a resurgence of horrors thought safely interred forever.
INDELIBLE ANN: THE LARGER-THAN-LIFE STORY OF GOVERNOR ANN RICHARDS by Meghan P. Browne (DBC 26819)
Folksy, larger-than-life picture book biography about Ann Richards, the late governor of Texas who has inspired countless women in politics today. Commercial audiobook. For grades 3-6. 2021.
INDIAN LIFE IN TEXAS by Charles Shaw (DBC 24992)
A series of dramatic fictional narratives recreate the history and culture of the first native Texans.
IPCRESS FILE by Len Deighton (DBC 26770)
An off-beat spy thriller which combines comedy and suspense. The author’s debut novel demonstrates his remarkable grasp of the details of international espionage.
LAST GREAT DAYS OF RADIO by Lynn Woolley (DBC 25001)
In this memoir, long-time radio personality Lynn Woolley describes Texas radio in its heyday. Combining humor and nostalgia, Woolley traces his career from the smallest station in a small market to the largest radio newsroom in Texas and offers inside information about the radio business.
MANY A GREEN ISLE by Agnes Sligh Turnbull (DBC 26764)
The story of a professor of English and his family in a small college town. A man of integrity, he finds his honor, both academic and personal, suddenly threatened.
NOTES FROM THE COUNTRY CLUB by Kim Wozencraft (DBC 24979)
Cynthia Mitchell, once a chic New York public relations executive, is to stand trial for murdering her abusive husband. Imprisoned in the psychiatric ward of the Fort Worth Federal Corrections Institute, known also as the “Country Club,” Cynthia endures the humiliations of prison life and reveals through flashbacks the escalating brutality in her marriage.
PANCHO AND BLACK JACK by Frederic Bean (DBC 24981)
On March 9, 1916, the tiny town of Columbus, New Mexico was attacked and burned by Mexican revolutionary soldiers said to be followers of the infamous Pancho Villa. If Villa was responsible, what were his motives? Could such a provocative act been an effort by German agents in Mexico to inflame the border area and distract America from aiding the British and French in the European war they were losing? President Woodrow Wilson sent General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing to hunt Villa down and punish him. Explicit descriptions of sex, strong language and violence.
RINGER by Dell Shannon (DBC 26483)
As the usual march of crime descends on the homicide unit of the LAPD, Luis Mendoza finds out that one of his own—young detective Tom Landers—has been accused of heading a car-theft ring. 1971.
SECRETO MAS GRANDE DEL MUNDO by Og Mandino (DBC 26771)
he author presents the Ten Great Scrolls for success and tells how to apply their meanings to everyday life. Spanish language. Title in English: GREATEST SECRET IN THE WORLD.
SHERIFF DE PRESCOTT Y SU CODIGO by M.L. Estefania (DBC 26761)
In El sheriff de Prescott y su Codigo (THE SHERIFF OF PRESCOTT AND HIS CODE) a young man accepts the job of sheriff of the lawless Arizona town of Prescott against his family’s wishes. Spanish language.
WELLS BROTHERS: THE YOUNG CATTLE KINGS by Andy Admas (DBC 26765)
Andy Adams was a Texas trail driver during the 1880s—the peak of the great cattle drive. Thirty years later he authored a series of novels which are considered to be unusually authentic depictions of the trail driver, the cowboy’s lives and the cattle business. They have been mistaken for non-fiction.
WOMAN CALLED FANCY by Frank Yerby (DBC 26768)
This rags to riches story tells of the daughter of a poor farmer and his wife, who also worked in the fields, and how she marries a man of wealth and raises her daughter differently.
WORD ON THE BRAZOS: NEGRO PREACHER TALES FROM THE BRAZOS BOTTOMS OF TEXAS by John Mason Brewer (DBC 26757)
This is a delightful collection of “preacher tales” from the Brazos River bottoms of Texas, collected and related by one of the nation’s leading black folklorists. The author worked side by side with field hands in the Brazos bottoms; he lived in their homes and worshipped in their churches. He sought out elderly ministers and other tradition-bearers and recreated them in the distinctive dialect of the region.